One Day Remaining Until Detroit Country Day and Grand Rapids South Christian Battle for Division IV Crown

GLEN ARBOR, MI—August 2012, the Detroit Country Day Yellow Jackets took their first step toward their ultimate goal. At the conditioning camp up north, the Yellow Jackets solidified the understanding that in order for the season to be a success, the group must work harder and harder and harder together as a single unit.

The first goal of every team is to get one win under its belt: Country Day defeated Detroit Mumford in Week 1, 41-0. One win must turn into two: Country Day defeated Birmingham Seaholm in Week 3, 35-21. For high school football, the magic number is six: Country Day defeated Flushing in Week 7, 48-27 to gain its sixth win of the season, clinching a spot in the playoffs. After early exits in the playoffs the last few years, the Yellow Jackets were determined to prevent that from happening again this season. October 26, 2012, Country Day defeated Clinton Township Clintondale, 35-0, in the first round of the Division IV playoffs. One week later, the Yellow Jackets pulled out a close victory against rival Notre Dame Prep, 14-12, to give Country Day the district championship. November 10, 2012, Country Day pummeled the visiting Grosse Ile Red Devils, 45-17, in the regional championship. The following week, the Yellow Jackets traveled to Ortonville Brandon High School to face the Vikings of Saginaw Swan Valley. In the state semifinals, Country Day thumped Swan Valley, 38-0.

It has come down to this. Every team began the 2012 season with the same dream: play for a State Championship at Ford Field. When the Country Day Yellow Jackets wake up Friday morning, this dream will become reality. “It’s what I’ve been dreaming about for the last four years,” Country Day senior co-captain Cotter Lamb said. “This is everyone’s dream. You think about playing at Ford Field the whole season. It’s unbelievable that it’s happening.”

The current seniors on Country Day’s team were in the seventh grade the last time the team traveled to Ford Field at the end of the season. It has been 13 years since Country Day has won the State Championship. In 1999, the Yellow Jackets defeated Muskegon Orchard View, 39-32 to claim the Division V State Championship; however, since moving to Division IV, the Yellow Jackets are yet to clinch their first Championship. “This team has a tremendous work ethic,” Country Day Head Coach Dan MacLean said of the reasons this team has been so successful. “They have been a group that’s quietly gone about their business, and the team has very strong leadership. We have our senior leaders, who are primarily linemen with the exception of Gianmarco Rea. They have been very workmen-like, and have gone and overachieved in every aspect of what my expectations were. We also have a junior group which is very strong. A lot of our playmakers come out of that group, and yet they have humility. Every week this team has taken a workmen-like approach in improving themselves and getting better.” Coach MacLean was also quick to attribute some of this season’s success to teams of the past. “The group last year, although they weren’t as talented as this group, they really set a tone of leadership, having a great senior group from the 2011 team. That laid the groundwork, and you have to have that in a program. That’s something that I’ve learned through experience in all my time here. All of those things have to come together to help us.”

As for Friday, one team stands between Detroit Country Day and the Division IV State Championship: the Grand Rapids South Christian Sailors. Although the Yellow Jackets have two shutouts thus far in the playoffs, shutting down the Grand Rapids South Christian offense will not be an easy task. On the 2012 season, South Christian’s sophomore quarterback Jon Wassink has completed 182 of 276 passes for 2,546 yards and 23 touchdowns. “We have to make sure we stay disciplined on our defensive coverages,” Country Day senior defensive back and co-captain Trevor Woodland said on how to limit the Sailors’ passing attack. “We have to make sure we don’t get beat over the top: that’s the key.”

Wassink has also shown this year that he has some wheels for South Christian, rushing for 713 yards and nine touchdowns. “We just all have to do our jobs,” Country Day senior outside linebacker Nick Boswell said of containing Wassink. “We have to put pressure on their quarterback because he likes to run, and he has speed. We just have to be conscious of that, play hard, and understand what we’re playing for. We’re playing for a State Championship.”

Last week, the Yellow Jackets were able to apply pressure to Saginaw Swan Valley’s Travis Bell, bringing him to the turf on four different occasions. If Country Day can duplicate that performance up front defensively, they could disrupt the Sailors’ timing and their entire offensive attack. “We’ve been getting pretty good pressure all year, it’s just a matter of staying consistent,” Country Day senior defensive tackle Poet Thomas said. “The key is to not let the quarterback get free or allow him to break long runs. On third down, we need to make sure we get that sack so we can force them to punt, and get our offense back on the field.”

Country Day’s offense has been extremely effective so far this postseason, scoring 35 points or more in three of four playoff games. The balance of the Yellow Jackets’ offense makes it tough for opponents to prepare for. In three playoff games, junior running back Richard Wilson has carried the ball 43 times for 249 yards and eight scores, while catching three passes for 52 yards and another touchdown. “The key to making our running game work is staying aggressive,” Richard Wilson said. “Our offensive line has done a great job all year, and they will open up holes. I just have to read those holes and get as many yards as I can.”

Country Day junior quarterback Tyler Wiegers has excelled so far this postseason: completing 47 of 81 passes for 726 yards and seven touchdowns in four games. After four playoff wins under his belt, Wiegers remains humble yet confident in this team. “We need to keep improving like we have throughout the playoffs, play our style of physical football, and we should be in a good position,” Tyler Wiegers said.

One of the reasons Wiegers has been so successful this year, especially in the playoffs, is due to the emergence of junior receiver Moe Ways. In four playoff games, Ways has caught 17 balls for 314 yards and three touchdowns. “Tyler [Wiegers] and I became good friends over the summer,” Moe Ways said of his on-field connection with Wiegers. “We started doing extra workouts, coming in by ourselves and lifting together. Just being friends off the field helped our chemistry when we got on the field. Tyler is a great guy. He’s one of my closest friends. It’s just fun playing with him on the field.”

On Friday, the Yellow Jackets will pursue their first Division IV State Championship in school history, but to accomplish this feat, the team must not be blinded by the bright lights of the big stage. “We have to handle this game as we’ve handled every other game this year,” Country Day senior middle linebacker and co-captain Gianmarco Rea said. “Just because we’re playing at Ford Field and in the State Championship Game doesn’t mean that we have to change the way we’ve approached any other game this season. We just have to take our regular approach, and just play our game.”

Although no one on the current team has ever played in a State Championship Game, Coach MacLean has drawn off his past experiences at Ford Field in 2007 and 2008 to prepare his players for Friday. “I think the indoor facility here is going to be a big factor in our planning, and hopefully that will work to our advantage,” Coach MacLean said of the preparation this week for Friday. “We have to go out and realize, in some sense, it’s just another football game. You can’t make it more than it is. It is still 100 yards long and 53 ½ yards wide. You’ve been out there before and you have to go do your job. This is the last game of the season. We’ve maxed out. We played every game that we could, and you want to finish on a high note.”

Four months ago, a State Championship was a distant dream for the Yellow Jackets. Now it’s within reach. For seniors Gianmarco Rea, Cotter Lamb, Connor Darby, Rhodwin Chungag, Poet Thomas, Christien Wright, Amanpreet Singh, Ali Fakih, Nathan Grathwohl, Trevor Woodland, and Nick Boswell, Friday is the last time these eleven will suit up for the Yellow Jackets. “As seniors, Friday is going to be a great experience, because it is our last game as football players at Country Day,” senior offensive tackle Connor Darby said. “Everyone that comes in as a freshman thinks about getting to Ford Field one day, and we’ve done that. Now it’s up to us to finish the season off the right way.”